Arsenal Transfer Rumours: 4 Midfield Stars Still Linked with Moves to Club

With one first team player having already left the club and at least one more likely to depart before the opening round of 2011-12 Premier League fixtures a fortnight today, this summer has been tough for Arsenal fans.

Despite new signing Gervais Yao Kouassi (''Gervinho''), a highly-rated 24-year-old Ivorian striker, scoring two goals in the first few minutes of his Gunners debut against FC Koln, there has been little good news emanating from the Emirates Stadium over the past few weeks.

In fact, most media attention has been focused on the publicised wishes of star midfielders Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri to continue their careers away from North London.

While the former may be about to get his wish with a proposed £34 million move back to boyhood club Barcelona nearing completion, the latter may just have to turn his focus to securing a first trophy for Arsenal in eight years and leading the club to mount a challenge for the Premier League title.

This task will be considerably more difficult than in previous years, given the heralded arrival at Chelsea of young Portuguese manager Andre Villas-Boas and the significant investment Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool have made in their squads this summer.

Nevertheless. club chairman Peter Hill-Wood has just confirmed that the club are looking to sign a few players but ''it isn't going to happen overnight'' as he will not want the club's fans to feel that the board of directors lack ambition.

With the midfield soon to be weakened by Fabregas's departure to Spain, I look at four playmakers who continue to be linked with a move to Arsenal, including Barcelona youngster Thiago Alcantara (pictured above) and rate the likelihood of any transfer deal being completed before the transfer window closes at the end of August.